8. Discussion

As an occupational group, police officers possess a specific subculture that includes values, norms, and behaviours that are formed through the process of occupational socialisation and shared by police officers. Scholars in the West have long noticed the influence of police subculture on their perceptions and behaviour and have conducted sizable studies to examine the intangible myth. However, policing studies in China is still in a preliminary stage with few empirical studies conducted, let alone police cultural studies. Most studies on police culture in China are characterised by a prescriptive account of idealised cultural norms and regulations that officers ought to abide by or a theoretical analysis of police cultural studies as a discipline.